Name That Larvae

October 4, 2009 11:18 AM

Are these mosquito larvae or something else?

I found these guys in an inch of standing water in a hot tub that had been closed up over the summer: 1 2 3 4. This is in Oklahoma. The closest match I can find is mosquito larvae but they're kind of big (5/8 to 3/4"), so much so that I thought they were tadpoles when I first saw them. Also I haven't seen them attach theirselves to the water surface like lots of mosquito larvae pics suggest. If they're beneficial I'd like to save them, but if they're mosquitoes, I guess I'll have to make them a reservation at the roach motel.

posted by crapmatic to science & nature (4 comments total)

Looks like hellgrammites (Dobsonfly larvae) to me. Maybe you should take up fishing.
posted by metagnathous at 12:20 PM on October 4

I suspect that those are mosquito larvae, based on two characteristics that distinguish mosquito larvae from other aquatic insects:

1. the absence of legs
2. a thorax that is wider than the head or abdomen.

There is an identification key for US mosquito larvae here, if you want to identify them more thoroughly. The Oklahoma State University has some State-specific mosquito information here.
posted by nobodyyouknow at 6:56 PM on October 4

It's a slide rule. Rare, scary, but harmless.
Don't know about the insects.
posted by the Real Dan at 11:11 PM on October 4 [1 favorite]

doesn't look like mosquito larvae to me - though you'll be able to know for sure if they start hanging upside-down at the surface of the water to breathe like this
posted by soplerfo at 12:35 PM on October 5